A teaching portfolio is an evidence-based collection of the documents of your teaching performance. Many colleges and universities have finally started to look beyond the number of publications and take teaching more seriously. “As many as 2,000 colleges and universities in the US and Canada are using or experimenting teaching portfolios (Seldin, 2004)” at the time of hiring or promotion. In addition to the course evaluation, syllabi, feedback from students, peer comments, teachers need to demonstrate in their portfolio their accomplishment as an educator through their written statements. The process of writing a teaching portfolio gives time to reflect on your own teaching and to think about how you can improve it. In this presentation, the basic concept and components of a teaching portfolio will be introduced.Bio:Emiko Hirose Horton An associate professor at Shibaura Institute of Technology. Obtained an B.A in TESOL at Hawaii Pacific University and M.A. in Linguistics at University of Hawaii. Has taught English in America and Japan for about 25 years. Recently working as a faculty developer for higher education as well.Nara KatsuyukiProject of Students’ International Exchanges in the wake of 3.11 disaster – In quest of deepening cross-border students’ bonds

On March 11th, an unprecedented massive earthquake and ensuing tsunami caused tremendous damages upon Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures. The disaster left over 15,000 people dead, and approximately 5,000 missing. What was worse, there happened accidents at nuclear power plants in Fukushima. The terrifying accidents forcibly caused local residents to move to neighboring cities and towns in order to prevent radiation contamination. Still now, approximately 60,000 residents have been forced to live in shelters, and temporary housing units prepared by central and local governments.After the 3.11 calamities, numerous “Encouraging messages” from overseas schools were sent to members of New English Teachers Association (or Shin-eiken ) I belong to. They were sent from schoolchildren in Turkey, the U.S., France, Israel, Kenya, and so on. In May and July I visited three quake-affected schools to ask the students to write “Thank-you Messages” in response to the overseas messages. Those messages were sent to the schools’ teachers and students via the Shin-eiken members. I started this project with the purpose of making international exchanges between schools through messages.On October 23rd , a big earthquake took place in the east of Turkey. The quake has reportedly claimed lives of approximately 600, and injured more than 4,000 people. In view of the fact that Turkish students gave us encouraging messages, I soon organized a campaign to send the same messages to them, asking the teachers of quake-hit schools to have their students do so.Thus, cross-border bonds between the students in Japan and abroad have gradually deepened.Bio:Nara Katsuyuki Born in Tokyo, and spent most of my life in Konosu, Saitama Pref. Live in Kodaira-shi, Tokyo, now. Taught English at several Tokyo Metropolitan senior high schools for more than 30 years, and now teaches English, and clinical education at Tokyo universities, including Shiraume Gakuen Univ.